Door-latch mechanism



July 3, 1928.

C. R. SMITH DOOR LATCH MECHANISM Filed Aug. 2, 1923 ,2, iNVENTOR MW. M

TTORNEY Patented July 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES CHARLES B. SMITH, OF MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

DOOR-LATCH MECHANISM.

Application filed August 2, 1923.

- The improvements relate to devices which are known panic or emergency exit latches, and is in the nature of an improvement in the general form of construction of United States Letters Patent. No. 1,117,457, of No, vember 17, 1914, and No. 1,324,181, of December 9, 1919, to Frank F. Smith, to which reference is made for a description of parts of the apparatus not herein described and shown.

In devices of this character it is necessary that both top and bottom bolts shall be with drawn when the operating bar is moved, and in the devices of the patents referred to the operating rod, which is raised by the laterally extending panic bar on the door, extends substantially from top to bottom of the door, is connected with both top and bottom bolts and tends constantly to move downwardly by gravity, the upward movement withdrawing both bolts and the down- -ward movement causing them to enter their sockets and securethe door. In this construction, or its equivalent, the gravity of the vertical rod acts to shoot both bolts and restore the panic bar and also tends constantly to hold the bolts in their respective sockets, and many important advantages are secured thereby. It sometimes happens, however, that the bottom socket becomes clogged as with dirt or ice, so as to prevent the bolt from seating therein, and therefore when the bolts are connected directly with the vertical rod so that they cannot have independent movement and this is important to securitythe door may remain unlocked after being closed. Such a result would necessarily be due to extreme'carelessness in permitting the bottom socket to become clogged, and in failing to observe from the position of the panic bar that the parts are in unlatched position; but it nevertheless causesa degree of uncertainty. WVhere an automatic dogging device, such as that described in the second patent above referred to, is not employed to hold the bolts in withdrawn position until the door is closed, and the entire weight of the vertical rod must be lifted by the bottom bolt when it passes over anobstructiona certain degree of strain on the pivots and other connecting parts results.

One of the objects of the present improvements is to so construct and arrange the parts that the bolts may operate independently of each other, and the bottom one without raising the rod, but will at the same Serial No. 655,177.

time simultaneously drawn by the raising of the rod through operation of the panic bar and will be held in locked position by the gravity of said rod, thereby preventing the cloggingof the bottom socket from causing the door to remain unlocked and reducing the strain and wear and tear on the bolts and their connected parts. By this construction the bottom bolt or latch has to raise only a part of the weight of the vertical rod on striking the jamb or any other object in its path, and if its socket is obstructed so that the bolt cannot enter, the other will not be aifected thereby. Likewise if the bottom bolt is withdrawn from its socket improperly the other will hold, and the .door will remain latched. At the same time the entire weight of the rod holds the upper bolt latched. Another advantage is that the vertical rod when it falls to shoot the bolts will not rebound and release them so that they will fail to rest in their sockets if the door has moved toward open position, as where the door has slammed shut; and the action of both bolts will be quicker, since the momentum of the upward movement of the rod sections will be much less than that of the entire rod, and their return movement .therefore more nearly instantaneous.

The improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a section of the vertical rod of an emergency exit latching device with one of the bolts and its socket and housing connected therewith, embodying the improvements; Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows in that figure; Figure 3 shows a continuation of the upper rod section of Figs. land 2 and the upper bolt, in elevation, the connections for operating this bolt being indicated by dotted lines.

In Figure 1 the rod and latch are shown in normal or latched position, the latch at the upper end of the bar being a duplicate of the bottom one, and in Fig. 2 the parts are shown in the position occupied by them when the bottom bolt or latch is drawn with out affecting the upper one.

The rod is made in two sections 1 and 2. joined by a connecting portion consisting of a hollow interiorly threaded member rceeiving the lower threaded end of the upper section of the rod, a lower hollow member 4 receiving the upper end of the lower rod section and permitting it to slide freely therein and a medial reduced portion adapted to receive thevfork arranged to be operated by a suitable panic bar or the. like to raise the rod and draw the bolts. The lower end of the lower rod .section 2 is threaded into the hollow interiorly threaded member 6, which has a shank 7 terminating in a flattened part 8 to which the link 9 is pivotally connected. The link 9 is pivoted at its lowerend to the bolt 10, which in turn is pivotally mounted in the housing 11., A socket'o'f suitable form may be provided. to receive the bolt 10. The upper bolt and its "connections are similar in construction and operation to the lower, except that it is arranged to be shot by movement of the rod away therefrom (see Fl 3' and second patent above mentioned), while the lower is shot by movement of the rod toward the bolt, to that both bolts are operated to latchand unlatch simultaneously by single movements of-the rod up and down.

i so

The sleeve member4- is providedwith a slot 18 and the upper end of therod section 2 has a pin 14 working in said slot, connecting the, parts and limiting their relative movement. This pinis driven or threaded into a hole in the upper end of the rod section, after'the said section has been passed into the sleeve 2 and extends through the slot and slightly beyond the" outer surface of the sleeve so as to form a strong secure connection. It is preferably driven in so that it cannot be removed and is sunk to the bottom of its hole, so that it cannotbe removed or punched in, or, if desired, the hole for the pin may run through the rodv section, 'as shown, and the pin cannot be punched out, but is protected against this by the opposite side of the sleeve. This is the preferredmethod of securing the pin;

and it will be seen that if the pin is driven in through the slot and through to the opposite side of the rod section it will be upset to some extent and riveted by being driven against the inner surface of the sleeve on the opposite side. I

, The position of the pin is important, and should be such that it is in the bottom of the slot when the lower bolt is latched, s0

' that when this lower bolt is raised to unlatched position, as by striking the jamb of the door, the lower rod section will .be' permitted to move up by the movement of the pin along "the slot, while the upward movement of the upper section, under the impulse of thepanic' bar and connections on an openin movement thereof, will raise the lower rod section and draw the lower bolt as well as the upper bolt. This positioning of the parts also insures that the upper bolt shall be maintained in latched position by the entire weight of the two rod sections.

' In operation, when the door is closed, the

swinging bolts will strike the jamb at top and bottom and be moved to unlatched position, raising the rod, the upper section of the rod being raised by the upper bolt and the lower section by the lower, and as soon as the bolts register with their sockets they will be shot thereinto by the weight of the said rod sections. But if the lower bolt is unable to enter its socket the upper section of the frod will fall nevertheless and shoot the upper bolt, so that the door will be latched at the top. If it is attempted to open the door by raising the lower bolt from its socket from the outside, by inserting a jimmy under the lower edge of the door, or otherwise, the upper bolt will not be affected thereby, as the rod section 2 will rise and the pin will travel upward in the slot without raising the upper section of the operating rod.

The threaded connections between the upper rod section and the connecting member and between the lower rod section and the lower bolt enables the user to adjust the rod accurately, and sothat it will operate with precision, and also permits the adjustment of the device tothe height of the door opening, within certain limits.

"What I claim is: 1. The combmationof a rod mounted to reciprocate vertically and lengthwise and to" gravitate normally to a lower position, bolts operatively connected with the upper and lower portions respectively of said rod and mounted to be shotand drawn simultaneously by the reciprocation of said rod, and a loose connection between said rod and one ofsaid bolts permitting said bolt to move in unlatching direction without moving the other bolt, one of said members having a portion arranged to actuate the said bolt toward locking position by gravity.

2. The combination of a rod mounted to reciprocate vertically and lengthwise and to gravitate normally to a lower position, bolts operatively connected with the upper and lower portions respectively of said rod and mounted to be shot and drawn simultaneously by the reciprocation of said rod, said rod being made in a plurality of sections, and a loose connection between one section and another permittingindependent verticaln'iovement thereof.

3. The combination of a rod mounted to reciprocate vertically and lengthwise and to gravitate normally to a lower position, bolts operatively connected with the upper and lower portions respectively of said rod and mounted to be shot and drawn simultaneously by the reciprocation of said rod and to be held in latching position by the gravity of'the rod, and a loose connection between said rod and one of said bolts permitting said bolt to move in unlatching direction without moving the other bolt, one

of said members having a portion arranged to actuate the said bolt toward locking position by gravity.

t. The combination of a rod mounted to reciprocate vertically, bolts operatively connected therewith and adapted to be shot and drawn by the reciprocation of the rod, said rod being made in a plurality of sections, and a connection between said sections permitting independent vertical movement of one section upwardly with respect to the other.

5. The combination 01" a rod mounted to reciprocate vertically, bolts operatively connected therewith and adapted to be shot and drawn by the reciprocation of the rod, said rod being made in a plurality of sections, and a connection between said sections permitting independent vertical movement of one section upwardly with respect to the other, said connection comprising a sleeve on the end of one section receiving the end of the other section, said sleeve having a vertical slot therein, and a projection on the end of the member within the sleeve extend ing through the slot.

6. The combination of a rod mounted to reciprocate vertically, bolts operatively connected therewith and adapted to be shot and drawn by the reciprocation of the rod, said rod being made in a plurality of sections,

and a connection between said sections permitting independent vertical movement of one section upwardly with respect to the other, said connection comprising a sleeve on the end of one section receiving the end or the other section, said sleeve havinga vertical slot therein, and a projection on the end of the member Within the sleeve extending through the slot, said projection being in the form of a pin passing through the end oi the section Within the sleeve and projecting on one side thereof.

7. The combination of a rod mounted to reciprocate vertically and lengthwise and to gravitate normally to a lower position, bolts operatively connected with the upper and lower portions respectively of said rod and mounted to be shot and drawn simultaneously by the reciprocation of said rod, a loose connection between said rod and one of said bolts permitting said bolt to move in unla'tching direction without moving the other bolt, and an adjustable connection between the said loose connection and one of the bolts, one of said members having a portion arranged to actuate the said bolt toward locking position by gravity.

lVitness my hand this 22nd day of J anuary 1923, at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York.

CHARLES R. SMITH. 

